Need some gaming advice here...

[skyking]

My nephew is wanting to upgrade from a P100 to something that will game a bit. I have built some computers from scratch, but he may want to do some "first person shooter" games. He has played Halo on xbox, i suspect he will want to do something like it on the new computer.
I will be buying stuff off the "for sale/trade" as much as possible, and want some recommendations on minimum proc and vidcard.
Any ideas? Not including P4 2.2 ghz and GF4 ti 5 million, LOL?

 

[bunker]

Decent gaming rig:

1.2 ghz or above processor (could probably get by with less, but I personally wouldn't)
GeForce 3 ti200
512 mb ram

Those are the essentials.

Newer games won't run all that great on much less, plus it will last a while before he needs to upgrade again.

 

[skyking]

Thanks, Bunker. I can get that from my friends on the forum.
Lets keep it coming...... I KNOW you have opinions on this stuff

 

[DaveSimmons]

bunker is right - 1.3 celeron or 1.2 duron is good enough for this year and maybe next. Anything slower and some new games will need to run at lower detail / lower quality. An XP 1500+ - 1800+ would be a great choice to give it more lifespan.

vidcard, get either gf3 series (used ti200 now should be $100 max) or gf4 4200, stay away from the gf4 mx, they're garbage.

 

[skyking]

That is the stuff i was looking for, thanks.
How about a Radeon 8500LE? These seem to run around $100, also.

 

[Maleficus]

I suggest a GeForce 4 Ti4200, they can be had for cheap and will last longer for that lil extra price tag. 512 ram is good. I'd also get him the 1700+ or the 1800+

happy gaming

 

[Maleficus]

Originally posted by: skyking
That is the stuff i was looking for, thanks.
How about a Radeon 8500LE? These seem to run around $100, also.

if your looking for care-free low maintanence i suggest going with Nvidia, Radeon results just vary to much from PC to PC.

like i said in my last post, a GeForce 4 Ti4200 can be had for like 150.

 

[Heraclitus]

I don't have anything new to add, I'm afraid: I just wanted to say that I thought that bunker's specs looked exactly right to me.

Have fun!

 

[skyking]

thanks folks
I will be seeing him tomorrow, and now I have some solid recommendations to make.
cheers!